11 Celebrity Memoir Flops Of The Day

From The Daily Beast:

"Turns out, readers consider Arnold Schwarzenegger’s memoir Total Recall expendable. Despite an aggressive publicity tour, the book has sold only 27,000 copies since its Oct. 1 release, 21,000 of them in the first week. It’s not terrible—Alec Baldwin’s A Promise to Ourselves has sold only 13,000 hardcover copies since its September 2008 release, proving that even a hit TV show doesn’t guarantee literary success.

As they do almost every year, publishers have released a slew of celebrity memoirs of late, but sales have been underwhelming (with the exception of the likes of Tina Fey and Keith Richards). Some of these books may catch on in paperback or find a second life, but the general rule in publishing is that if you haven’t sold big in your first few weeks, you’re doomed.

From Snooki to Rielle Hunter, here are the biggest recent flops, with book sales data provided by Nielsen BookScan.

NEIL YOUNG

Waging Heavy Peace has sold 36,000 copies since its Sept. 25 release, similar to the pace of Schwarzenegger’s memoir.

ELLEN DEGENERES

Seriously…I’m Kidding has sold only 12,000 copies in paperback since Sept. 25 though her hardcover sales were stronger.

PETE TOWNSHEND

The publisher hoping for another Keith Richards sensation may be disappointed with Who I Am, the memoir of the guitarist of the legendary band The Who, has sold 18,000 copies since Oct. 8.

RIELLE HUNTER

What Really Happened, the tell-all by the mistress of former presidential candidate John Edwards, has sold only 12,000 copies since June 22.

ANDREW McCARTHY

The Longest Way Home, the new book by the actor (Pretty in Pink, St. Elmos’ Fire and other Brat Pack films) and travel writer has sold only 5,000 copies since it was published on Sept. 18.

PENNY MARSHALL

My Mother Was Nuts by the director (Big, Awakenings, A League of Their Own), producer, and former star of Laverne and Shirley, has sold just 7,000 copies since its Sept. 18 release.


See the rest at The Daily Beast.

Animated GIF Of The Day

Again. Because I want you to watch it some more. I wish this thing had sound.

Vid Of The Day: Henri 4, L'Haunting

Brilliance. Thanks, Lea-Anne Jackson, for the link.

11 People Who Turned Down Big TV Roles (Of The Day)

Oops. From Mental Floss.

PAUL SHAFFER as GEORGE COSTANZA

According to Paul Shaffer’s memoir, We’ll Be Here for the Rest of Our Lives, Jerry Seinfeld personally left a message stating that the role of George Costanza on his upcoming pilot was Shaffer’s if he wanted it. But Shaffer was preoccupied with his other work and said he never got around to returning Seinfeld’s call.

DANA DELANY as CARRIE BRADSHAW

Sex and the City creator Darren Star first offered the role of Carrie Bradshaw to his friend, Dana Delany. Delany had previously won two Emmy Awards for her portrayal of the compassionate nurse Colleen McMurphy on China Beach, but she was still smarting from the negative reviews she’d gotten for playing a dominatrix in the 1994 film Exit to Eden. She told Star that the public would never forgive her if she talked about sex onscreen again, so the part went to Sarah Jessica Parker.

JAYNE MANSFIELD as GINGER GRANT

Blonde bombshell (and mother of Law & Order: SVU star Mariska Hargitay) nixed the role of sexy Ginger Grant on Gilligan’s Island, stating “I am a movie star.”

PAUL GIAMATTI as MICHAEL SCOTT

As Bill Carter reported in the New York Times back in 2006, NBC executives had a strong favorite for the role of Michael Scott on the American adaptation of The Office—Paul Giamatti. He wasn’t interested, and the network eventually offered the role to Steve Carell.

STEPHEN TOBOLOWSKY as AL

Tim Allen’s Home Improvement sidekick was originally Glen, not Al. When the series was first being cast, character actor Stephen Tobolowsky was hired to co-host the fictitious Tool Time with Tim, but a previous commitment prevented him from appearing in the pilot episode. Richard Karn, a struggling actor, happened to meet Home Improvement’s casting director while attending traffic school and finagled an audition. Karn was invited to be Tobolowsky’s “placeholder” in the pilot, and then was asked to film a second episode when the series was picked up and Stephen was still off working on a different project.

MICHAEL RICHARDS as ADRIAN MONK

As Seinfeld was winding down its nine year run in 1998, the major networks were salivating to sign the series’ stars to new projects. ABC pictured Michael Richards as a bumbling Inspector Clouseau-type detective and pitched a premise about a cop suffering from Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. Richards, however, felt that the character of Adrian Monk didn’t offer enough comedic possibilities, so he passed. With Richards’ veto, ABC lost interest in the show and sold the rights to cable’s USA Network. Monk went on to become USA’s highest-rated show and Tony Shalhoub won three Emmy Awards.


See the rest at Mental Floss.